MCP Context Budget - Prevent Agent Token Overruns
Measure & cap MCP tool-surface tokens before your agent runs.
What is Mcp Context Budget?
MCP Context Budget is a local-first CLI tool that measures and enforces token budgets for MCP (Model Context Protocol) tool surfaces before coding agents start work. It scans MCP configurations, calculates schema and response token costs, selects lean task-relevant tool sets, and enforces budgets in CI pipelines to prevent context bloat and runaway costs. Designed for teams using AI agents with MCP servers who need deterministic control over tool surface complexity.
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Key Features of Mcp Context Budget
- Scan MCP configs to measure schema and response token costs
- Select lean task-relevant tool sets under budget constraints
- CI-enforceable budget checks with build failure on regression
- Local-first, dependency-free core
- Deterministic SQLite FTS5/BM25 ranking
- Lockfile-based budget tracking
- Docker support
Who Should Use Mcp Context Budget?
Control token budgets for AI coding agents using MCP servers
Prevent context bloat in multi-tool agent setups
Enforce tool-surface budgets in CI/CD pipelines
Optimize agent performance by selecting only task-relevant tools
Monitor MCP configuration cost before agent deployment
Mcp Context Budget: Pros & Cons
✓Pros
- No runtime service or proxy required
- Local-first operation keeps data on your machine
- Deterministic tool selection with reproducible results
- CI-enforceable with clear pass/fail signals
- Dependency-free core
- Free and open source (MIT license)
- Docker image available for easy deployment
Frequently Asked Questions about Mcp Context Budget
What problem does MCP Context Budget solve?
It measures and controls the token cost of MCP tool surfaces that can silently bloat context, slow down agent runs, and increase costs before the agent does any real work. It provides a static way to see and cap this cost.
How does MCP Context Budget work?
It scans your MCP configuration to measure token costs, selects a lean task-relevant tool set under your budget constraints, writes results to a lockfile, and enforces the budget in CI by failing the build if the surface regresses past the cap.
What are the system requirements?
Python 3.11 or later for installation from PyPI or source. Docker is also available as an alternative.
Can I use this without running external services?
Yes, it is local-first with no runtime service, proxy, or data leaving your machine. The core has no external runtime dependencies.
How do I get started?
Install via pip (pip install mcp-context-budget), run the demo command with your task and budget constraints, or use the Docker image. No configuration is required to prove the tool.
Tool Details
- Pricing
- Free
- Category
- Mcp Developer
- Added
- Jul 2026
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